Van Alstyne man dies after shooting at Anna golf course

Wednesday

Nov 30, 2016 at 3:41 PM

By Alex Maxwell, Herald Democrat

A Van Alstyne man was shot at an Anna golf course Wednesday morning and later died at the hospital. The suspect authorities believe is responsible for the shooting was arrested a short time after the incident on a murder charge.

Collin County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded at 9:40 a.m. to a shooting at the Hurricane Creek Golf Course, northwest of Anna. In a news release, Capt. Jim Moody said after arriving to the scene, deputies found 55-year-old Julio Garcia with a gunshot wound. Mr. Garcia was transported to a local hospital where he later died.

While at the scene, deputies located and apprehended a suspect. John Robert Sim, 20, of Anna, was arrested on a charge of murder and bond was set at $500,000. The release noted Sim was being detained in the Collin County Detention Facility.

As law enforcement was responding to the shooting, area schools were alerted and an Anna school was placed on lockdown.

When asked how much time passed between when deputies responded and Sim’s arrest, Moody said via email that he could only say that deputies were on scene very quickly. The release noted that the shooting appeared to be a result of a conflict between the two men and no one else was involved. Moody confirmed that both men were employees of the Hurricane Creek Country Club.

The Van Alstyne Independent School District was placed on a lock out for a short time. Van Alstyne ISD Superintendent John Spies said a lock out is a little bit different from a lockdown.

“It just means we don’t let people in or out, but inside the building everything goes on as normal,” Spies said.

The superintendent said the lock out was ordered shortly before 11 a.m. and lasted about 10 to 15 minutes. He noted his district was not notified immediately of the situation in Anna, so it took longer for the information to reach them.

“We didn’t have any indication that they were in Van Alstyne or anything,” Spies said. “It was just protocol that if there is something outside that can get to us, and we felt like Anna was close enough.”

In an alert posted on social media, Anna Independent School District officials stated that police were investigating an incident with an armed suspect in the Hurricane Creek area, so the school near that location was placed on lockdown.

“Initially, all campuses … were just keeping students inside the building, so no recess, that type of thing,” Anna ISD spokesperson Melane Woodbury said. “Then under the authority of the police, we put Joe K. Bryant Elementary on lockdown, which would be the school closest to Hurricane Creek.”

The lockdown was initiated at 10:39 a.m. and then lifted at 11:06 a.m. after police apprehended Sim. Woodbury noted that the district did not believe students were in danger at any time and the lockdown was just a precautionary measure.

“They were safe and secure in the building at all times,” Woodbury said.